2017 in Review Part 4

I have spent a good deal of time and ink in a review of 2017 and perhaps it is nearly time to turn our gaze toward 2018. Part 4 of this review will hit a few more of the biggest highlights of the latter half of 2017.

In July of 2017 I managed to publish a book. I found it to be a significant development in my life as a writer. I may have written nine years of blog posts but writing a novel was a new undertaking that took a whole other level of discipline. I hope to publish another book in 2018.

On August 21 of 2017, the world was mesmerized by “The Great American Eclipse.” Solar eclipses are rare enough and total eclipses visible in North America stir the hearts and minds of people. I was intrigued by Annie Dillard’s 1979 article “Total Eclipse,” which she used as a metaphor for the mysteries and splendours of our universe and our propensity to live in the mundane events of the world. Much of our lives are spent in the pursuit of three square meals a day and a roof over our head. We spend very little time thinking about the bigger questions of life, eternity, and God. Dillard says, “From the depths of mystery, and even from the heights of splendor, we bounce back and hurry for the latitudes of home.”

In September, I learned about the quirky letter Rich Mullins had sent to Steve Taylor in 1986. I saw it as one of those great moments in music history where two great artists connected. Steve Taylor still has the original letter.

In November, I was struck by the fact that we live in an unprecedented time in which our scientific advancements proceed at an incredible speed. Advances in genetics, autonomous cars, and Artificial Intelligence are proceeding faster than regulations, laws, and moral boundaries can be set in place. There is plenty of food for thought in each of these advancements and readers can expect further contemplation on these developments in 2018 posts. But it also reminds me that we live in a time when it is important to continue to remain humble in what we know to be certain. As Rex Murphy reminded us, “… our finest sages, present and past, have always counselled against certitude, and cautioned that when we are most certain of something is precisely the time we should go over our sums.”[1] 

One of the reasons I started this blog nine years ago was to give myself some space to ask important questions, to challenge myself to think logically, and to perhaps encourage others to consider other points of view. Thank you for reading along with me. I hope we can continue to explore this world in which we live in the years to come.

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[1] National Post, 2017-11-02, “Governor General places herself as umpire of questions of faith and science, http://nationalpost.com/opinion/rex-murphy-governor-general-places-herself-as-umpire-of-questions-of-faith-science